The Racer

A film about the life of cyclists. You will find out quite a few behind the scenes of this sport, things that one of them surprised me ... in what way, I will not divulge to you.

The film is very well thought out, realistic, extraordinarily played, the action does not stagnate at any moment ... worth seeing!

There's the makings of a decent film here. Good characters and the lead roles are well acted. Some of the supporting characters are little more than 2 dimensional stereotypes (the highly strung Italian prima donna) but that's forgivable in a low budget movie.

The real problem is that the film gets so much of the cycling wrong. Having a sprinter who's favourite to win the Tour de France. Domestiques who literally ride the entire stage on the front of the peloton including doing the lead out. Teams having all their riders together at the end of the stage. These things aren't central to the plot, but the problem is that to anyone who actually follows cycling they make it clear that the filmmakers either don't know much about professional cycling or just don't care. Which is a problem in a film about cycling which is mainly going to appeal to cyclists and cycling fans!

Its properbly not a 100% true insight of a Tour De France racing team, but it gives an insight of the dramas and the doping in a team. This takes place in Ireland 1998 where the Tour begins. And we follow a man in a team during the first three races in Ireland, before the Tour continues in France. Its a fairly good movie with lots of drama, and there is also room for a little love story :-) See it as a movie, and not as a documentary.

If you are interested in the Tour De France and its whereabouts, about the hidden things around it, or interested in cycling races in general, this film is definitely for you. I loved THE PROGRAM, back in 2015, about Lance Armstrong; and also loved CONTRE LA MONTRE, a TV movie starring Olivier Gourmet, denouncing drug use for cycling races. This story takes place during the first phase of the 1998 Tour de France in Ireland. This movie, I repeat, is very exciting and interesting too, a good character study concerning supporting racers, and not always the big stars. In short, it shows this sport from another angle. So many details are shown, as for a documentary.

Not a single scene is in order with reality. 4 stars because the acting is not bad at all. Mediocre try of a fine subject! Too bad its nothing more than a bad try. Belgian main character (Mega Toby) does some fine acting though....